Three key indicators of small business recovery have not moved much since last week after showing slight improvement the week before, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)’s small business recovery dashboard, which launched as part of #SmallBusinessEveryDay.
Just over half (57%) are fully open (58% last week), 34% are back to normal staffing levels (34% last week) and 24% are making normal sales for this time of year (23% week).
Additional survey data shows around half of business owners (53%) think it will take more than six months to get back to normal profitability, with almost one in three (30%) saying it will take more than a year. Five per cent are concerned they will never get back to normal profits.
“Small business recovery is going to be a long, tough road,” said Laura Jones, executive vice president at CFIB.
“Governments can and should do more, but ultimately businesses need sales to transition off subsidies and survive. Collectively, individual actions like trying a local business for the first time, giving your hairdresser a bigger tip or buying a new swimsuit from a local store can make a big difference.”
CFIB launched its #SmallBusinessEveryDay campaign last week and is currently profiling 23 different initiatives to support small businesses. Nearly 10,000 Canadians have accepted the challenge to put meaningful effort towards supporting small business.
“The number of campaigns to support small businesses is growing by the day, including #WelcomeBack, #StandWithOwners, #TakeOutDay, and #TheBigSpend,” said Jones. “We’re profiling them all at www.smallbusinesseveryday.ca to make it easy for consumers and businesses to find how they can be part of the community helping Canada’s small businesses survive. Everyone can play their part in Canada’s economic recovery.”
The #SmallBusinessEveryDay campaign is an extension of CFIB’s annual Small Business Saturday. The campaign encourages local shopping, promotes initiatives to support small business and provides posters and other tools for businesses to use. It is supported by Scotiabank, Chase Merchant Services, eBay Canada, Intuit Canada and Interac Corp.
